Titanus, The Blue Monkey

As Lux and Xia continued down the path, he couldn't help but check on Nia and the others from time to time.

Fortunately, the path they chose was an easier one. It didn't have Peak Proto Level monsters that could attack at any time.

"They should be safe for now, but just to be sure, I better keep an eye on them," thought Lux as he confidently advanced forward.

Xia, who was beside him, couldn't help but curiously glance at him when she saw that he was looking in other directions.

"Lux, what are you doing?" Suddenly, the young woman couldn't resist the temptation anymore.

"I'm just checking on Nia and the others," he casually waved his hand as he said this.

"Are you doing this frequently?" Xia had a smile as she asked this.

"Yes, I don't want any mishap to occur to them," Lux softly nodded.

"Even when you're outside the Portals? That's..." Xia was at a loss for words.

"Huh? What's wrong with that?" Lux frowned a bit, not knowing why Xia's expression was so strange.

"What if Nia is taking a bath or something? Are you peeking at her then?" Suddenly, the conversation has gone off the track a bit.

"I'm not doing that! I'm not a pervert! Why would I peek at my little sister when she's bathing?"

"But you don't know if she's bathing or not until you look!" Xia's decisive ultimatum made Lux stumble in his steps.

He ferociously gazed at her, "Why do you think I'm looking at Nia nonstop? Does Shadow peek at you when you bathe or something?"

"He's not..." Somewhat dejectedly, Xia shook her head. It seemed that she was...disappointed?

"You're crazy. Truly crazy." Not bothering himself with Xia anymore, Lux only focused on the path ahead.

This stopped him from noticing the mischievous smile that Xia wore on her face, turned out that she was purposely teasing him.

If other people that knew her saw that, they would be petrified.

Never in their wildest dreams would have they thought of seeing this side of Xia. She was a well-known ice queen that didn't even try to remember people's names.

Not to mention boys, even with girls, she was the same.

So if they knew that Xia was currently not only talking with Lux but also teasing someone; it was unknown what their reactions would be.

After walking down the path for a few minutes, Lux and Xia stumbled upon a giant gate that was decorated with blue crystals.

Upon a closer look, Lux observed something strange on the massive gate, a few paintings.

If it was only that, he wouldn't be so surprised, but the thing was, those paintings depicted the same thing as the drawings that had a dragon in them.

"This..." Stunned, Lux quickly saw that even the number of beasts and humans kneeling was exactly the same; just that replacing the dragon, a blue monkey was depicted.

Shaking his head, Lux decided against taking pictures. He already had everything ready to pass the test, so why should he bother with more 'evidence'?

"Let's go inside, Xia." A second later, Lux urged Xia to follow him inside after opening the gate.

Trying to push the gate open, Lux was surprised that it required more force than he thought.

He was sure that even if Xia's ex-opponents, the five-winged snakes, would've bashed the gate, it wouldn't even budge.

What to say about Xia or other people's strength?

It was pure luck that he happened to be here; otherwise, everyone would probably have to wait for Alexander to come here and see if he manages to open it.

After increasing his power by a few notches, the seemingly immovable blue gate started to open before the duo's eyes.

"Lux... I have a bad feeling coming from behind the door," Xia tugged his sleeves as she said this.

"Of course, you have a bad feeling about it. After all, there's a dangerous presence behind this gate, he's most likely confined inside. But who cares about that? Let's go."

Not giving much thought about it, Lux stepped forward and entered the special world behind the gate.

"What the..." Xia's beautiful blue eyes were full of appreciation as she looked at the picturesque landscape in front of her.

She didn't expect to see such a scene of a forest full of blue trees, where birds of rainbow colors coexisted in peace with different monsters.

She happened to see a Minotaur that was over 3 meters in height grabbing some water from a nearby river with his giant hands, before giving it to a deer to drink.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" Lux shouted; this prompted Xia to direct him a gaze full of question marks.

"Don't ask why, it's because he's here."

"He...?" Right as Xia wanted to ask more questions to Lux, the ground suddenly trembled.

Trees began falling down to the sides as a giant, blue monkey came closer to their location.

The monkey had some chains wrapped around his legs and arms, with one even going through its massive chest. The strange thing, though, not a single chain was connected to something; they all freely dangled in the air.

Standing at over 6 meters tall, it looked pretty menacing. The pressure it exuded was above everything else that Xia felt.

"Humans! Why did you come here?" As the blue monkey asked this, Xia was shocked.

No matter what level a monster was, until now, not a single one of them managed to strike a conversation with a human.

'This guy can talk...'

"We were just exploring the Portal when your caves appeared all over the place. And you ask us how we got here?"

"If this wasn't a well-plotted scheme, I don't know what it was..." Lux shook his head with a mocking smile.

When Xia saw that he wasn't surprised at all, despite seeing a talking monster, she wanted to ask him things; but in the end managed to hold herself back.

"That's not something I can control! The Portal was designed as such by a certain someone. I don't have any control over it; as you can see, I'm shackled here as well."

Saying so, the monkey showed Xia and Lux his chains.

"I wonder who was strong enough to even imprison a Demi God? Well, not that it matters. We're going to leave now, I'll put some restrictions in place; just in case a Portal Break will occur in the future."

After saying his piece, Lux turned toward Xia and grabbed her arm; the young woman's eyes looked at him in confusion.

The Blue Monkey also didn't say anything; he just let them leave in peace.

"Oh, right..." Stopping in his tracks, Lux turned his head to look straight into the monkey's eyes, "Are you perhaps familiar with someone called Titanus, The Blue Monkey?"

Crack!

The ground beneath the blue monkey's feet started to cave in; the pressure was enough to make Xia as though she was going to die.

Lux's emerald eyes became a deep golden as he muttered, "Stop." At that moment, it was as if the flow of time was disturbed.

The birds didn't chirp anymore; even the strong monsters around the area didn't dare to move an inch; Lux didn't stop the time, but the pressure he exuded at that moment was simply divine.

Even the blue monkey regained his state of mind, "I do not know such a traitor among my people."

Plop, the blue monkey seemed to be reminded of something and fell to its knees.

"I see... I'll be back in the future, for now, patiently wait here and don't do anything." It sounded like an order; this made Xia aware that the blue monkey won't accept; but surprisingly enough, the strong-looking blue ape meekly nodded its head.

"As the Lord Commands..."